So We're Engaged 🥰
I've mainly posted art so far b u t most of the content I make with Edward and I is writing. I have so many writing WIPs, mainly because I'm a massive perfectionist and they get edited and reworked about a thousand times before I'm comfortable with sharing them. That being said, I finally finished this casual little snippet describing ✨️the proposal✨️ and if I think about it too much, it will rot in my notes forever, so here we are! I'm also on mobile so sorry if the formatting is garbage. <?>
• Edward had no idea when he started thinking about it, but now that the idea had come to him, there was no sending it away.
• The first time it crossed his mind, we were in each other's arms, and I was already asleep. He wanted to fall asleep like this every night, and it dawned on him. He spent most of the night analyzing and overanalyzing his feelings, our relationship, everything.
• In truth, he never thought he'd feel this way about anyone. He never thought anyone would feel anything for him, but he knew that I wanted to get married someday; he'd never had a dream like that until now. He knew that I loved him. And he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if he let me slip away, he'd never forgive himself.
• He couldn't imagine his future without me in it, and he didn't want to try. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, he wanted... he wanted to marry me. He wanted me to know that if I wanted him there, he'd stay, forever if I wished. He wanted to show me that he wasn't afraid, but god, he was.
• He decided that he needed more information. Throughout the following months, he paid even closer attention than usual, drawing on everything he knew about me to formulate his plan.
• He didn't know it was his plan to propose until he caught himself measuring my ring finger while I slept.
• His overthinking kicked into overdrive. Would I accept? What kind of proposal was I hoping for? Was I even ready for something like this yet? His plan slowly took form, but so did his anxieties.
• He turned it into a puzzle. How couldn't he? The two of us loved puzzles, and in a way, he didn't want to put on a performance I wouldn't believe. He was going to try and be brave, he was offering himself completely, but he had to offer himself. He had to do this his way, lay everything out for me to see, and hope beyond hope that it was good enough.
• Besides, I hated huge public displays, as did he, and his nerves would never allow him to ask in public to begin with.
• I wore silver or brass; I didn't like gold. I preferred gemstones other than diamonds, but I loved peridots. And now he knew my ring size was 6. My ring size was 6, he couldn't forget that. He visited just about every jeweler in Gotham to find the perfect piece, hardly worrying about the price for once and keeping the box buried in the bottom of the satchel he took to work.
• Eventually, the day came; he chose our anniversary, nine days after Valentine's Day. Of course, for Valentine's Day itself, he'd taken me out for dinner like he did last year, but last year, our anniversary was the day where he tried to make things more... unique.
• The two of us took the day off, and when I woke up, I knew I'd have some sort of scavenger hunt laid out for me. Last year, he'd set up clues alongside my morning routine, but this time, rather than simple riddles alluding to the day's activities and leading to the next clue, these were placed along the same trail, but written in code. They were also... sweeter than usual.
• I always found his puzzles to be sweet; anything he put his time into was precious to me (he always put so much time into them), but he'd outdone himself. Each riddle was almost like a poem, and the answers were vague: "love," "a promise," "your name," "eternity."
• He could never help but hover while I was working to solve a challenge he'd set for me, but he was more nervous than usual, fumbling in his pocket and confirming my correct answers with tiny nods. My anticipation was growing and so was his, every passing cipher and clue leading me closer to his final question.
• The last cipher was short. It was written in one of the many vintage cards he'd collected, then decorated, and finally, tucked in the most worn book on my bookshelves.
• By now, I could recognize around half of the letters he'd used for this particular cipher, and what I could read made me pause. It wasn't a riddle, just a question, four short words. I froze, holding the book in my hands and rereading the coded words over and over. Ed stood in the room, and I heard a shift while I covered my mouth with my palm.
• There it was, spelled out in the intricate symbols he'd crafted, words that I never thought I would hear (or read, in this case.) "WILL YOU MARRY ME"
• When I finally turned to face him, eyes wide and brimming with tears, I found him lowering himself to one knee, holding a ring box and looking up at me. His mouth moved but it seemed his voice refused to come, his bottom lip trembling while he tried and failed to speak.
• He was also on the verge of tears, cracking under the weight of the question he had yet to voice aloud.
• After a brief moment of silence, I brought myself to my knees, holding his gaze and breathing my answer, unable to stop from crying any longer.
• "Yes! Yes, I will, Eddie, oh my god-"
• His eyes searched mine, looking for a lie and finding not even a hint, before crumbling into me. We wrapped our arms around each other, holding on tight as everything flooded us at once. He stroked my back, and I clung to his shirt, both of us crying joyously. We whispered "I love you" back and forth to each other, between sniffs and watery giggles.
• Eventually, we pulled away just enough to look at each other, me cradling his cheek and him absentmindedly stroking my hair. Neither of us could tell you who initiated the kiss, who closed the distance, but it didn't matter.
• I kissed him like I needed him to breathe, and he spoke against my mouth between kisses, clutching me even closer (still holding the ring in its box.)
• "Say it again- please, please let me hear you say it again-"
• His voice was choked but gleeful, his breath shuddering across my face.
• I replied; there was no way I could deny him. I replied between slow kisses, coiling my free arm around his neck.
• "I wanna marry you, Eddie, you wouldn't believe how long I've wanted this."
• Another kiss, lingering and practically feeling his elation in the way he pressed into me.
• "How long?" he asked, and I smiled.
• "Two years, two months... let's see-"
• "Two years, two months, eighteen days, fourteen hours?"
• "Show-off."
• "That's how long you've... wanted this? Since-"
• "Since I found out you love me too."
• He ducked his head, trying to hide a grin before something crossed his mind, his brow twitching. I hummed inquisitively, and he answered, "I just didn't ask it, that's all. I wanted you to hear it. You... you deserved to hear it, if the rest was going to be..."
• He trailed off, waving his hand.
• I tilted my head a little and hooked a finger under his chin, coaxing him to look at me.
• "You did ask me?" I said, genuinely confused. I reached for the book and fetched the card inside, handling it with care, and opening it again. "See? 'Will... you... marry... me.'" His grin returned, and I continued.
• "And I wouldn't have it any other way."